


Just a Mistake

by Bara_no_Uta



Category: Sofia the First (Cartoon)
Genre: Bad Things Happen Bingo, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Gen, Ivy's childhood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-28
Updated: 2019-04-28
Packaged: 2020-02-09 08:40:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18634675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bara_no_Uta/pseuds/Bara_no_Uta
Summary: The stinging in her eyes made her vision blur, and before she knew it, water was dripping down her cheeks.That seemed to spark another light into her mother’s rage.***Bad things happen bingo prompt: don't let them see you cry.





	Just a Mistake

**Author's Note:**

> I loved, loved, loved The Curse of Princess Ivy, so I was absolutely elated to see that Ivy got a redemption episode! "This Feeling I'm Feeling in Me" broke my heart, but more than anything else, the episode got me thinking about what kind of life Ivy must have led. She doesn't know love, she doesn't know what it means to cry...
> 
> Just a ficlet as I try to find my writing muse again after an injury I'm still recovering from.

Footsteps as light as a child so young could make them, four year old Ivy snuck into the kitchen. Lunch was coming up, but she had been playing in the garden all morning and now she was _hungry_. Surely one teeny, tiny snack was okay, right? Her mother wouldn’t approve, but the empty feeling in her stomach made her inclined to ignore that and hope her mother simply wouldn’t find out.

Just as she had reached the refrigerator, one of the chefs took notice. “Hello there, little princess! Not here to spoil your lunch, I hope,” she said. Unlike the harsh scolding Ivy would have gotten from her mother, it was accompanied by a gentle smile.

Ivy bit her lip. “But I’m hungry…”

She couldn’t deny a child something to fill an empty stomach, but she also knew that Ivy would get into trouble – and possibly herself as well – if she snacked now and lost her appetite for lunch. “I understand. Lunch will be soon; do you think you’d be okay with some juice while you wait?”

“Okay.” It wasn’t what she really wanted, but it was better than nothing. If she pushed her luck, she was pretty sure that she would simply get nothing and have to keep feeling hungry until lunch.

The chef smiled and retrieved a glass from the cabinet. After filling it with Ivy’s favorite type of juice, coming from a plant unique to the kingdom, she handed it to the little girl. “Do you think you can carry this to the dining room by yourself?”

Ivy held it in both hands as she nodded and took careful steps.

What she quickly discovered was that the dining room felt _unsettling_ when she was all by herself. It was so big and empty. The family consisted only of the King and Queen, Ivy’s eight year old sister Juniper, and Ivy herself, but the difference between four occupants and only one was surprising. Still, Ivy headed toward her seat near the entrance of the room—

And was startled when the doors opened without warning.

Ivy jumped, bumping into one of the chairs and tripping over her own feet. The glass of juice flew out of her hands as her small body landed hard on the stone floor.

Her body stung from the fall, but she looked up to see who had entered the room.

Her mother and Juniper stood in the doorway. Her mother’s face was in a gasp, a dark stain spreading across the skirt of her white dress from Ivy’s juice. Ivy was too young to know the word “disdain,” but she hated the way her sister was looking at her, like she was a disgusting and annoying little bug.

“I-I’m sorry,” Ivy said, quickly picking herself up and backing away as she saw the surprise in her mother’s face quickly turn into anger. One of her knees still hurt, so much that she thought she could feel the sting all the way in her eyes. It was just a little scrape, but that simply wasn’t something she was used to.

“You clumsy little brat,” her mother hissed, stepping closer. “How dare you be so careless? Look what you’ve done!”

“I’m sorry, Mother,” she whimpered, even though she knew by now that apologies never did anything to quell her mother’s rage.

“You had _better_ be. But will sorry fix my dress?” She huffed. “You’re lucky you have a pretty face, Ivy, because that’s _all_ you have.”

The stinging in her eyes made her vision blur, and before she knew it, water was dripping down her cheeks.

That seemed to spark another light into her mother’s rage. The queen grabbed her daughter by the arm and pulled her out the dining room door, up the stairs, and into the girl’s bedroom. “Don’t you ever embarrass me like that,” she scolded as she finally released Ivy’s arm.

She rubbed her arm. Her mother had been walking too fast, gripping a little too tight, and now her arm hurt. The water seemed to be falling faster, and she could hear her own breathing.

“Listen to me, Ivy. No child of mine does _that_ , so you had better pull yourself together.” She gestured at Ivy’s cheeks.

How was she supposed to make the water stop?

Her mother turned her back toward Ivy and looked out the window. “Your father wanted a son, and we needed a spare should something happen to Juniper, but you’re not a son and you will never be fit to rule.” With that, she looked back at Ivy. “If you keep this up, maybe we’ll just send you away. Do you know what an orphanage is?”

Ivy shook her head, though the menacing tone her mother used was alone enough to scare her.

“Trust me, you want to keep it that way. So if you don’t want to find out the hard way, you’d better shape up. Any children of _mine_ must be strong and smart.”

 _Don’t be weak or stupid, or you’ll get sent away._ That was the message she understood loud and clear. Terrified, Ivy held her breath. The water stopped, as though she was so scared that even it didn’t dare come out.

Her mother lingered a while longer, as though needing to personally verify that the water wouldn’t start back up again. Ivy’s gaze remained fixed on the floor, not knowing what to say, hoping that the silence would protect her.

Finally, her mother spoke. “Now, it’s time for lunch. Go on. I must change first.”

At her mother’s instructions, Ivy left the room and went back downstairs. Hungry as she had been before, she seemed to have completely lost her appetite now.

Unallowed to cry, it was from that day on that Ivy’s emotions changed: pain into resentment, sadness into anger, and fear into thirst for power. Nothing else was allowed under her mother’s watchful eye, and she could never, _ever_ be caught again with water on her cheeks.


End file.
